Industrial Control Applications

The research activity mostly concerns the development of models and control algorithms for vehicles and vehicle components. Special emphasis is given on the use of virtual prototyping tools, including hardware- and human-in-the-loop tools. The activity is focused on four main topics:

Design of motorcycle control algorithms for virtual prototyping applications

Efficient use of energy is one of the main strategic measures not only for the conservation of fossil energy resources but also for abatement of air pollution and the slowing down of anthropogenic climate change. The requirement of primary energy to cool and to heat buildings is an important part of the overall energy consumption in Western countries, summing up to about 30% of the U.S. and European global energy consumption, due to the increasing use of air conditioning units for cooling residential and office buildings during summer. The European Commission deliberated on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD), with the Directive 2002/91/EC, which imposes several actions to achieve prudent and rational use of energy resources and to reduce the environmental impact of the energy use in buildings. This can be accomplished by increasing both the energy performance of new and existing buildings and the efficiency of cooling/heating systems. Advanced control methodologies can be applied to HVAC system management in order to improve energy efficiency, and regulation performance.

The semiconductor industry is one of the most technology-evolving and capital-intensive market sectors. The speed and effectiveness with which new products are developed have an important influence on market competitiveness. Efficient control of manufacturing operations is well recognized to be a source of competitive advantage. The research activity covers Statistical Process Control, Advanced Process Control, Run-to-Run Control, Virtual Metrology, and Predictive Maintenance issues.

The research focuses on industrial communication networks, that are real-time communication systems deployed in several application contexts such as, for example, factory automation, motion control, process automation, networked control systems, building automation and automotive systems.These specific types of networks have to cope with the tight requirements typical of the industrial scenario. Particularly, they have to provide real-time performance as well as high reliability and robustness. The main research topics are the following: